


Changing Sides

by Silvertounge



Series: Changing Sides [1]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Genderbending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-17
Updated: 2014-12-17
Packaged: 2018-03-01 20:42:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2787071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvertounge/pseuds/Silvertounge
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Toni's actions are misinterpreted, the whole group is thrown through a loop, how will they prove to Captain America that she's not really the bad guy?<br/>Warning: Female Tony Stark</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Natasha sat in her work room and stared at her iron woman suit sullenly. The paint was chipped and scraped off in various places, making the bright red and gold suit seem dull and pathetic like Toni’s mood. The silence of the workroom surrounded her like a cage, leaving too much room for unwanted thoughts and feelings.

“Jarvis.”

“Yes Miss Stark?”

The robotic voice calmed her slightly let her think of things other than….. him. “Play some music Jarvis, from my working playlist.”

“Of course miss.”

Nothing Else Matters floated through the speakers around her tauntingly, and she began to realize that giving Jarvis a personality wasn’t one of the best calls she’d ever made in her life. She glared vaguely in the direction of a computer hoping Jarvis would get the message, her brown eyes narrowed slightly, “Really?”

“It was the first song on the playlist.”

Toni sighed and started working on her suit; she pulled the armor apart and began fixing every little thing she came across. Toni Stark had never been a religious woman, but if her workshop was a temple then her suit was the altar, and she was damn well going to worship. Things that she would have normally overlooked were checked and fixed with religious precision and zeal, even through the music, and her mood the world narrowed down to her suit. Electrical problems were taken care of, paint was scraped off, metal buffed out and repainted. Nothing escaped her critical eye. 

Her shoulder burned like fire where she had been hurt in their recent attempt to capture Loki. The muscle and nerves screamed in pain as she stretched and reached deep into the bowels of her suit, the pain was just a distraction, it hardly mattered. It was nothing compared to how his words made her feel.

She had been reckless, tried to get Loki alone, but the opportunity was there and everyone was on the ground taking forever to decide what to do. Broken buildings and fires surrounded them as Loki continued through the city in his quest to find the materials for the tesseract. They had just been sitting and watching, waiting for Steve to come up with a plan.

“Hulk and Thor can circle around and come at him from the west,” he looked at the team seriously and tracked Loki’s movements carefully, “Hawkeye, you can cover the rooftops with Black Widow,” he looked to Natasha, “you and I will circle opposite Thor and Hulk to try and ambush him.”

Everyone had been in blind agreement with the plan except for Toni. She listened quietly and mulled everything over in her head carefully. Loki had a big advantage over them: magic, or as Toni liked to put it, science she hadn’t invented yet. His ability to manipulate the things around him put them all at odds no matter how they went up against him and splitting up and trying to come at him from all sides just seemed to peg them as easier targets. It was the same tactic they’d always used, and somehow he always seemed to be prepared for it. A bad guy with strategy, go figure.

“It’s not going to work,” her voice rang out to the group; everyone stopped their preparations to look at her. Toni crossed her arms, “Think about it, we always come at him from both sides and meet in the middle, we’re making ourselves a predictable target. If we were to send say, one person out after him, he’ll have to focus on that one person attacking him,” she looked around at the groups, her eyes finally settled on Cap’s face. He looked on the verge of arguing, but at least his manners kept him from interrupting, “then we send Thor to come at him from behind. And Green rage monster can do what he does best and wreck some stuff.”

Toni smiled behind her mask, she knew her plan could work; after all she came up with it. Silence surrounded the group as they thought it over quietly, Cap’s blue eyes flashed dangerously and he opened his mouth right as Black Widow cut him off, “Who would go?”

“I could go,” Toni said confidently, “I’ll blast him a few times, throw some stuff at him, you know, be my usual charming self and…”

“Absolutely not,” Cap shook his head vigorously, “you’re not going out by yourself! You’d get yourself killed. We’ll stick to the original plan.”

“We can’t stick to that. We’re going to get pummeled by Antlers over there; we’ve been using the same tactic, now it’s time to try something new. Sometimes you’ve got to run before you can walk capsicle.”

A satisfying moment of confusion crossed his face, before settling back into his normal hard ass I lead the group look. “We’re not going to send anyone out by themselves,” Cap’s voice took on his don’t fuck with me edge; when he used that tone of voice everyone listened, even Toni. “You can’t go against him by yourself, we’re a team and we go together.”

“No. We can’t keep going out like this,” Toni stood in front of him and crossed her arms, grateful for the good 3 inches that the suit gave her, even with the 3 inches she was still embarrassingly shorter than him.

The Avengers watched silently, and slightly amused, as the two stood toe to toe and glared at each other, it was like their own personal civil war, but no one wanted to choose sides. 

Cap spoke first, his deep voice soft, but firm, “I’m not letting you go out there alone.”

Toni tilted her chin up and arched a brow, the expression lost behind her mask, “Just try to stop me stars and stripes. It’s a good plan; it has like a 90% chance of working. We have to take risks every now and then. Why not take them with the gorgeous genius in the iron suit?”

Cap looked at Toni like he wanted to shake her senseless, but she shrugged it off, they never got along anyway, even if they were somewhat, sort of, kinda, maybe, friendly acquaintance type of friends. 

He shook his head resolutely, “No. We’re a team, we go in together. Your plan is reckless and dangerous; you’re going to get yourself, and possibly someone else killed when they go in to try and rescue you!”

Toni opened her mouth to spout out some angry, smart ass retort when Thor spoke up calmly, and pushed them apart peacefully. “The woman of Iron makes a fair case. We continuously attack Loki from one point, he is an Asgardian, he will always be ready for such an attack,” Thor looked at Captain America solemnly, “as a team we shall have to try new plans of attack, the woman of Iron is right in her assumption about my brother.” 

His blue eyes clouded up with sadness at the mention of Loki. Toni was always surprised about how forgiving Thor was to his brother. If someone had done all that shit to her, she thought about Obadiah for a fleeting moment, she’d never forgive them. Somehow Thor never seemed angry when he talked about Loki; just sad and guilty.

“I don’t want her going in there alone,” Cap’s voice brought her attention back to the conversation and she sighed, why the hell did the man have to be so damn stubborn about things?   
“Well it’s a good thing I don’t need permission then isn’t it?”

Cap looked at her and his eyes flashed with anger and….pain? Toni looked at him carefully, surely he wasn’t hurt by what she said, it wasn’t a secret that she was an arrogant ass. Not that she wanted to change herself, but why did it bug her whenever she hurt Cap’s feelings?

“Jarvis turn the thrust on to 50%; let’s go see if we can outsmart antlers.” 

“Of course Miss Stark, I’ve set a trajectory course for Loki’s position.”

Toni flew off, and had she looked back she might have seen the worry in Cap’s eyes. Jarvis’ course took her through wrecked buildings over to behind Loki. Toni watched him as quietly as one could in a metal suit, before aiming her cannon at him, “Hey antlers!”

Loki turned around, and was abruptly blasted into a nearby building with a sickening crunch. Dust and stone flew in a little cloud, making his point of impact impossible to see, but Toni knew that a little blast wouldn’t actually hurt the madman. Just piss him off, but that was her job; keep Loki busy in a pointless game of cat and mouse until the rest of the Avengers could surround him.

“So you’re the sacrificial lamb.” Toni spun around quickly and spotted Loki on a building behind her, “I admit I was getting rather….how shall I put it? Bored with the previous tactics of your little group,” his condescending tone grated on Toni’s nerves and made her teeth clench.

“Well you see,” she lowered herself to the ground, “I’m the smart one, so I decided hey this guy is boring anyway,” she watched his prideful anger with satisfaction, “so I thought that we should cut the preschool tactics and move on to first grade.”

Loki’s laugh surrounded her and she was taken aback by the genuine note of amusement in his voice, “Very smart. I admit I’m impressed that you came to me by yourself,” he walked toward her confidently, knowing she couldn’t put a scratch on him, “we all know I can’t control you because of the disk in your chest,” he motioned to her arc reactor with his spear, “but your talent is wasted on the Avengers.”

Toni watched him warily, stance deceptively calm, “Oh? And how is that? I think it’s fun to be able to have a group of goodies to constantly piss off.” 

Loki laughed as he neared her, “You’re bored. Constantly having to follow orders from Fury and Captain America,” He smirked at her, “Never being able to decide your own plan, never calling the shots,” Loki stood in front of her confidently, “you could be so much more.”

Toni’s brain shut down for a moment; it was like he read off of her frustrations from a checklist. “I’m a genius billionaire philanthropist sex goddess,” crossed her arms, “I’m pretty awesome without the avengers, and with them I even get fan boys.”

“Yet, you’re still dissatisfied. You’re constantly undervalued by your group,” he was suddenly behind her speaking in her ear, “you deserve so much more credit. You make repairs and updates to their weapons and armor,” his voice caressed her and sent icy sparks down her spine, “yet you’re treated like a joke. I could give you so much more. I would value your knowledge and battle skills, I would never treat you as an inferior,” Toni bit her lip listening against her will because really, the guy had a nice voice. It couldn’t hurt to just listen a little bit, it wasn’t everyday she got some damn good compliments from a god.

“You would be my equal. My Queen. Just leave them,” his hands trailed over her suit, “just leave them. Join me; you can control this earth alongside me. Freedom is what causes all the trouble in your world. We could alleviate them of their problems...together.”

Toni mulled over the idea in her mind. Loki could be right, maybe……Steve’s face appeared in her mind, and the thought was lost. Arrogant ass or not she knew what side she was on, “Tempting offer,” she purred seductively and felt Loki relax against her. She looked around and mentally winced when she saw the other avengers waiting to strike. They had probably heard and seen the entire little exchange and it didn’t exactly make her look like a team player. “But no thanks.” 

Toni slammed her arm into Loki’s chest and watched him get thrown back by the hit. The Avengers rushed forward to surround him and Loki glared at her hurt and anger welling in his violent green eyes, “It was foolish of you to reject my offer.” Loki blocked Thor and Cap, and used his spear to blast everyone away. “I would give you what they cannot. I know you thought about it, the rush of power, and the ability to control those who would doubt you.” He aimed his spear at her and blasted her, her suit’s power shut down, and agony engulfed her shoulder as the metal bent in and cut to the bone.

Loki walked over to her and bent down, “Worry not,” he smiled, “I am forgiving, and I will continue to make my offer until you see reason.” He stood up as Toni’s vision went black.


	2. Chapter 2

Toni woke up on a medical table in a foreign room. Panic coursed through her veins with the fear that she had been captured by Loki, she moved to sit up quickly, and barley contained a scream when her shoulder burned in white hot agony. Medical equipment beeped frantically with her increase in pain, she struggled to calm down as she grasped her aching shoulder, desperately trying to make the pain stop. She looked around carefully, and had just taken notice of the s.h.e.i.l.d emblem on the equipment when the door slid open with a small mechanical whirr. Toni turned her head quickly, to be confronted with the sight of Steve walking toward her. His back was ramrod straight, and his eyes were dark and turbulent.

Toni carefully propped herself up with her good arm, and looked at Steve gingerly. "What's going on Stars?"

He looked at her for a long moment, his eyes getting darker, and his frown becoming more pronounced."You actually thought of giving into him," his voice was full of bitter accusation, "you would have left us all with no thought."

Toni looked up at him helplessly, "Steve that's not true I was..."

"What? Playing along? Acting?" he practically snarled at her. Toni's stomach clenched, she had never seen him this angry at her before, yeah she annoyed him a lot, and she loved trying to get under people's skin. But this....this was something entirely different. "First you run off alone, then you actually think about giving into that madman!?" His eyes held contempt and disgust.

Toni's eyes hardened. Her temper spiked to uncontrollable degrees, who was he to judge a moment of weakness? "Yea well we're not all engineered to be fucking perfect stars and stripes. Some of us have moments of weakness."

Steve looked at her scathingly, "And your moment is becoming a traitor," he shook his head, "I thought better of you Natasha.," the way he said her name made her cringe, it sounded like a word a sailor wouldn't say coming from his lips. "I really did, even though you're hard to get along with at times, I thought you were a good person." Toni's heart jumped painfully.

"Stay away from me from now on. Don't approach me in the house, leave my things alone. When we're on the field you take orders and don't argue." His voice rang with finality, "if you don't comply," he paused, jaw clenched, "I'll have Fury remove you from the team." Without another word he turned and walked out seriously and silently, like the soldier she knew him to be.

Toni shook her head, and continued the work on her suit. Steve hadn't talked to her in the month since the incident. Every time he saw her he froze up, dropped everything he was doing and left the room. Around the group she would laugh about him needing to pull the Popsicle out of his ass, but inside she could never admit how badly it hurt to lose the one person who had valued her work. Even if it was just team mentality Steve had never made her feel worthless, and now she was. Every time he left she felt the pain in her chest grow and grow, until it became unbearable to lay eyes on Steve.

For the good of everyone's sanity Toni had taken to spending more time in her workroom. Hours on end fixing and updating weapons and armor. Coming up with new products for Stark industries, whatever distraction she could find she did. Science and math never made her feel worthless. They had always been with her, through thick and thin. When her father raged on and on about his lack of a son; when her mother had died. Always there, never judging her. Never looking at her like she had betrayed them.

She pushed her short wavy hair out of her eyes and stood up quietly. Toni pulled her gloves off and threw them on the work table, she glanced over at the clock and sighed softly. 1:57A.M, she had been working for over 20 hours. "My, "she thought dryly, "how time flies when you're having fun." Toni saved all her files, and walked toward the door.

"Jarvis lights off and lock up, I'm going to bed."

"Goodnight Miss Stark."

"Good ol' Jarvis," she thought quietly. Toni padded to the kitchen silently, her jeans felt heavy and scratchy after almost a day of wearing them, and the room seemed chilly with just her wife beater on. The arc reactor glowed softly in the dark, and slightly illuminated the path in front of her. She walked into the kitchen and rummaged around in the cabinet noiselessly until she found her prize; she snatched the snickers bar up and walked outside the house aimlessly.

The wind caressed her face coolly, and blew her hair around her head softly. She walked down the rocky path to the edge of the property slowly. Rocks poked into her feet, and sand stuck in gritty clumps between her toes. She walked down the path to the very edge of the cliff and sat down lightly. The sea below her was dark, and she could hear the waves crashed against the rock supporting her. Toni looked out into the turbulent water and opened the candy bar slowly. The water swirled and rocked with emotion, much like Steve's eyes had.

Toni sighed and munched on her candy quietly. Flecks of icy water splashed up and crashed into her bare feet, like the water was beconing to her. She looked at it thoughtfully and wondered what it would feel like to be covered in the water. Have it surround her and rock her to a never ending sleep. Toni's eyes burned with repressed tears and emotion. Would anyone even notice if she was missing? Would they even care? No. Not anymore, the one person who cared about her, beyond the obligations of a team member hated her now.

The grass behind her crunched softly and she spun around, instantly on the defense.

"Worry not," Thor's voice rang out; surprisingly quiet for the normally boisterous man, "it is only I Natasha Starkdaughter." He sat down beside her lightly, and looked out into the sea with her. "I know what you think Natasha; such a dark thought do not become you."

Toni blinked rapidly and looked out into the water, "I wouldn't have turned on you guys. I would never join Loki." She needed him to believe her, the days before the iron woman suit flashed in her eyes. Being held and tortured by terrorists. Dr. Yinsen dying so she could escape safely. Then she thought of Loki in Germany, seeing him about to kill an old man who would never bow down to a bully. Toni knew that even if she was tempted she could never choose to ally herself with a man who could hurt people without blinking.

Thor rested his hand on her shoulder softly, his higher body temperature was blistering against her cool skin, but she welcomed the contact. Any positive contact was something she constantly craved, and, now that she had lost the main source of her human contact, she wasn't about to push Thor away. He looked at her knowingly, "I would never be led to believe such a thing of you Natasha. I know that you would have never joined Loki. You do not have it in you to hurt others in such a way."

Toni looked at him surprised and smiled bitterly, "You're the only one."

Thor shook his head, his blond hair flew about his face, "No, only the Captain of all things American says that you would. The man of green, the Widow, and the man with eyes like a hawk believe otherwise," Thor hugged her gently and Toni tensed slightly, before relaxing into his hold. "Loki," Thor began quietly, as he held her close while staying away from her injured shoulder, "is very skilled at finding a person's weakness and exploiting them for his own gain," his eyes were full of pain, "I believe that Loki chose you Natasha, instead of all the others because you and Loki are similar.

Thor petted her hair softly and looked out into the water, "He can see what forced him to become as he is when he looks at you Natasha. Loneliness and the feeling of inadequacy are potent. When one finds another that has the same qualities, it is more potent than mead to a man who never drinks. Both you and he constantly battle with what you think makes you lesser to the rest of those that surround you," he glanced down at her, "you would not become like Loki because you find your sense of adequacy in helping others, while he finds his in ruling them." Thor relaxed his hold on her," I do not believe the Captain of all things American believes such things of you," he smiled kindly at Toni's look of disbelief, "I believe he is hurt because you chose to ignore his council, and almost ended up in Valhalla for it. The Captain of all things American pushes you away to avoid the pain of losing you to death."

Toni shook her head rapidly, "Steve barely puts up with me, he was only friends with me because we're on the same team, and now," Toni's voice choked up and her eyes filled with tears, they were hot and heavy and filled up her eyes painfully. She had never realized how badly she depended on Steve's friendship until now. Her body shook as she tried to suppress sobs.

"This is where you are wrong Natasha," Thor spoke to her gently, "the Captain of all things American holds you in the highest regard a man can hold a woman. His judgment is clouded by the irrational fear of losing you, or not being enough for you. He is constantly speaking of you, and trying to make you happy."

Toni cuddled closer to him, and looked at the water sadly, "Doesn't seem to matter now. Steve doesn't want anything to do with me."

Thor shook his head, "The captain knows he has erred in his ways. He is ashamed of his actions and will not admit fault because of pride." Thor smiled at her, his eyes were impish and dare she say mischievous? "But," his voice was deceptively innocent, "if you were to get hurt by some chance Natasha, he would come around."

Toni's brow arched and she looked at Thor more than a bit worried, "Hurt?"

"Fear not Natasha, I and the man with eyes like a hawk shall take care of this problem for you." He stood up, and smiled down at her his blue eyes bright with excitement, "I shall take my leave of you Natasha, and mayhap you should find your rest." With that Thor walked away quietly leaving a confused Toni behind.

Toni stayed there for a few more minutes before getting up quietly and padding through the grass to her room wondering pensively about what Thor had planned. As she crawled into bed only one thought crossed her mind: whatever Thor had planned it was going to be hella fun.


	3. Chapter 3

Toni was woken abruptly by persistent shaking to her damaged shoulder. She opened her eyes and immediately hissed when they were assaulted with a bright blast of morning light. "The hell is going on?" She grumbled out groggily as she glared up at the source of the pain menacingly and pulled her shoulder out of the attacker's hand quickly. Pain was radiating from the wound and racing down her arm to the tips of her fingers.

"Get up bead head!" Clint's voice grated on her nerves and alerted her to the identity of her assailant. She squinted at him evilly as he continued words directly into the heart of her forming headache, "You need to get up. I have to take you to the hospital."

Toni stared at him for a few moments then decided to grace him with her words, "what the fuck," she began slowly, "Why the hell are you taking me to the hospital? I'm not sick you moron."

She watched him suspiciously as he grabbed her wrist lightly. Clint smiled sweetly and sliced into her wrists with his arrow before she could pull away. Toni swore and grasped the cut trying to keep her sticky blood from oozing out of the deep wound; it snaked down her wrist in a hot trail, and splattered wetly against her sheets.

"Clint! You fucking moron!" He smiled as she tried to stem the blood flow with her sheets.

"I told you I have to take you to the hospital." He smiled at her mischievously, "Now shut it and listen Toni. I'm taking you to the hospital," his voice remained sweet, but with an edge that told her to accept what he was about to say and deal with it, "because you were so upset about Steve ignoring you," his eyes flashed with genuine anger at the mention of Steve's name, "that you spiraled into a depression and attempted to commit suicide because of your feelings."

Toni looked at him blankly for a long moment, then smiled sarcastically, "great plan, except the part where the hospital puts me in the mental ward on suicide watch!"

Clint laughed at her and picked her up quickly, "I never said that's what we're telling the hospital," He walked out of the room and set her down on a nearby bathroom counter. Clint dug through the cabinets until he found a shiny little first aid kit, and proceeded to wrapped her wrist tightly with gauze. Her blood soaked through the material in splotchy patches as he continued speaking, "that's just what Steve is going to assume."

Toni winced as he pulled the bandage tighter, her was starting to pound painfully from her abrupt wake-up call and blood loss, she glared up at him weakly, "if I die before we get there I hope he shoves his shield up your ass," Toni cling to him as he picked her up again, "how the hell is Captain asshat going to find out anyway?"

Clint smiled and walked toward the garage quickly, "Natasha is going to call Steve and tell him I've done something stupid. Then Steve will call," he set her down in the leather seat of her Aventador carefully before closing her door and hopping into the driver seat quickly, "and I'll make a comment about taking you to the hospital."

The Aventador purred to life around them as Clint sped off. Toni watched the speedometer carefully and gripped the seat of her baby lightly, "you scratch my car and you will be buffing it and painting it by hand until I am personally satisfied that the scratch is gone," Toni said scathingly as she leaned her head back when a wave of dizziness hit her.

Clint watched her carefully until the phone inside the car started ringing and Jarvis' voice came over the speakers, "Miss Stark, its Mr. Rogers. He sounds quite angry, should I let the call through, or do I tell him to try back later?"

Toni sighed and scowled at Clint icily, "Open up the call Jarvis."

Steve's irritated voice filled the speakers, "Clint where are you? Natasha called me and said you've been trying to provoke Bruce again. I've talked to you about this before and…"

Clint cut in swiftly, "yea I'm gonna have to stop you, I'm kinda busy driving Toni to the hospital."

"Hospital," Steve's voice shifted from irritation to worry in the span of a second, "why do you need to take Toni to the hospital?"

Clint smiled and winked at Toni before continuing, "Well you see she…Toni you're getting blood all over the seat!"

Panic filled his voice amplified by the speakers around them, "Blood?! Clint what…?"

"Sorry Steve, but I have to go." Clint hung up on him smoothly and smirked at the speakers in a self satisfied way. He looked over at Toni and smiled calmly, "how you holding in there?"

"Bad." She applied more pressure to her wrist and winced at the sting, "you guys are killing me. Literally this time. What fucking good is a goddamned engineer with a bum arm?" She tried to keep the scowl on her face, but it rapidly slid into a smile, "I can't believe we're doing this."

Clint laughed and parked smoothly, "course you can, it's getting away with it that we can't believe."

Toni laughed lightly and allowed Clint to carry her into the emergency room. The whole place was full of whining adults and crying children, Toni covered her ears lightly to drown out some of the sound. She stayed still as Clint set her down- onto what must have been the most uncomfortable chair she had ever sat in- before walking over to the front desk calmly. Toni watched him flirt with the nurse, no doubt in an attempt to speed up her time there.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket, she grabbed it and sighed softly. No doubt it was Steve, worrying about her now that she was physically hurt. She opened the phone and was pleasantly surprised when Rhodey's number popped up. She flipped open the phone and read the screen quickly.

Heard you're in the hospital from Pepper. Steve told her. He seems to think you hurt yourself. Pepper's worried.

Toni smiled and typed back quickly: I'm fine. Tel Steve to clm his tits. Didn't hrt myself, bt dnt tel Steve tht. B bak soon.

Toni waited a few seconds before the next message popped up with a small zing: Alright. Bringing Pepper, be over soon, hurry up and get better.

Toni snapped the phone shut and peered over at the front counter curiously, Clint was flirting…..still. Toni smirked and leaned back in her chair, she defiantly had plans to tell Natasha about this….after she was stitched up of course. Her head whirled slightly and she cupped her forehead in her palm lightly. When all was said and done, she was going to kill everyone. Especially Steve for getting her into this situation in the first place. Toni knew it was irrational, but she was quite content with blaming everything on Steve. Global warming? Steve. War? Steve. Death? Steve. Her blood loss? Steve fucking Rogers.

Toni glared into space sullenly, until a small tug at her pajama pants startled her. She looked down, into the bright blue eyed stared of a small little blond boy. He looked up at her curiously, and smiled at her brightly. Toni looked down at him and smiled back softly, somehow this little boy made her problems seem….less important. The boy climbed into her lap quietly –Toni gritted her teeth when he jostled her shoulder- and proceeded to suck his thumb quite happily. He snuggled closer to her and watched people walk by in silence.

Toni peered about questioningly, trying to find a parent or a sibling that may have been looking for him. Toni gazed down at him and smiled reassuringly, "Where's your mommy?"

The little boy just looked at her quietly, and smiled around the thumb that was in his mouth. He didn't make a sound, just smiled.

Toni smiled tenderly and smoothed his slightly wavy blond bangs out of his eyes quietly. The boy looked up at her trustingly, his blue eyes roved over her face curiously. The deep colour reminded her of Steve's eyes, but they were different. Maybe how his eyes were before war, and pain, and loss. She shook her head slightly and tried not to think about Steve and his gorgeous eyes. She rocked the boy gently and continued to look around questioningly, meeting peoples gazes and trying to see if someone would claim him.

"Steven?" an alarmed voice rang out in the waiting room, and Toni looked up from the boy to see an older woman looking around the waiting room frantically. The young boy didn't respond, just stayed in her lap looking up at her quietly. Toni blew her bangs out of her eyes and turned a bit to look over at the woman, "Ma'am? I think this is your kid."

The woman looked over bright blue eyes brimming with tears. When she saw the little boy she practically ran over to them, "Steven!" She picked him up carefully and looked down at Toni gratefully, "I hope he hasn't annoyed you. He's autistic. He can't help himself." Her eyes begged Toni to understand.

"No problem ma'am. He wasn't any trouble at all." Toni smiled at the little…at Steven and waved goodbye to him. As his mother walked away Toni saw him smile, and she could swear she saw him wave his little hand at her.

"Alright we got you a room." Toni jumped and looked over her shoulder, to see Clint leaning against the chair, "You need me to carry you?"

Toni stood a little shakily and shook her head, "not after how long it took you to get me checked out birdie." Toni leaned against Clint gingerly and walked with him back into the bowels of the hospital.

White walls surrounded them, and metallic gurneys strolled by carrying patients back and forth between rooms. Toni and Clint were escorted into a small little dent in the wall. Where they were told to wait by an impatient nurse and had the curtain promptly closed in front of them. Shutting them off from the rest of the hospital.

Toni looked at Clint and sighed, "You know how long your bright idea is going to take? We've already been here for an hour."

Clint patted her head and sat down next to her, "Actually it's been 20 minutes, and better stuck here than in your little cave." Clint's eyes focused on her a bit sternly, "We know you don't want to deal with Steve, but you've been worrying everyone Toni. Me especially. We're buds, and I couldn't even get you to come out, you just hole yourself up in your lab and ignore the rest of the world."

Toni bit her lip and looked over at a chart on the wall. She smirked jokingly, "so you come up with the brilliant idea to cut me?"

Clint shook his head seriously, "the original plan was to have you trip. The problem is you and Steve are too stubborn. Once you two got over the initial 'oh no are you okay', you guys would have been back to square one." He looked down at his hands and fiddled with his watch, "so we decided to do something more dramatic. Steve thinks you hurt yourself, he feels guilty, you two make-up. Then the whole house can go back to normal."

"You guys are normal. Steve and I have..." Toni began to tell him off in an irritated tone.

"Everything to do with how the team runs," he continued and nodded grimly when Toni scoffed, "Steve may be the 'official' leader, but we all know it's you and Steve together that run the show. It's not normal for any of us when you two act like this," Clint shrugged helplessly, "it rubs everyone the wrong way. You two balance each other out, he's the straight by the rules type of guy, and you're the one that says some rules are really more guidelines."

Toni rolled her eyes, "Steve's like that for everyone. I don't do anything but irritate him half to death. He can't even stand to be in the same room with me anymore. So I stay in the work room."

"Have you ever thought that he doesn't apologies because he doesn't know how?" Clint huffed out at her in a slight growl, "he doesn't know the first thing about women, and apologizing to a woman you're interested in is a hell of a lot harder than apologizing to a soldier or a friend." Clint turned her so she could face him, "Toni the guys crazy about you, he just doesn't want to admit that he felt betrayed by the woman he's fallen for. He also doesn't want to admit he's fallen for a woman who is the exact opposite of what he thinks he should want."

Toni gave him a wounded look, actually hurt by his blunt comment, "well then why doesn't he find someone he does want then?" she snapped out.

Clint watched emotions run through her eyes and backtracked quickly, "There's nothing wrong with you Toni. Just think about it. He grew up in the forties. Guys back then were expected to marry a pretty little baby factory. A woman who didn't work, didn't go out much, and was content to stay at home watch kids and cook." He looked at her meaningfully, "If anyone suggested you do something like that you'd kill them."

Toni tried to stay angry but the look on his face -that plainly read "I'm screwed," - broke her. She grinned and laughed, "Damn straight I would."

Clint smiled and hugged her carefully. He was about to speak when the doctor walked in jovially. He looked at them and smiled, "Miss Stark. I'm doctor Rastpoon. I'm here to take a look at your wrist."

He walked over and watched as Toni unwrapped it carefully, the fabric stuck to the wound slightly, and make a sickening tearing sound when it came off. Blood welled to the surface and started to slide down her wrist slowly. The doctor cleaned it off carefully and inspected it closely.

"Well you've missed the artery, and the blood flow seems to have slow down," he looked at her over the silver rims of his glasses seriously, "how did you come across such a cut Miss. Stark?"

Toni shrugged lightly, "work accident. I tripped and tried to catch myself on some metal." Clint squeezed her hand lightly and watched the doctor with a bit of guilt in his eyes.

Dr. Rastpoon looked between the two of him and took his glasses off, "in any case the laceration going to need a few stitches to keep it closed." He walked over to a bit cabinet in the corner of the room and unlocked it, "I'm going to numb it, while numb I suggest you do not operate any machinery." He walked over with a small needle in his grasp, "the area is close to your hand so it may spread to your fingers and disrupt your fine motor skills."

Toni nodded a bit and muttered, "Good thing the computers listen to voices…"

Dr. Rastpoon smiled faintly and slid the needle into her skin. Toni felt the liquid rush into her vein as the doctor pushed down on the plunger. A slight tingle scurried up her hand around her wrist, soon her wrist and most of her hand was numb and limp. The doctor lightly touched around the wound for a reaction, and when none seemed forthcoming he continued on to the task of sewing her up.


	4. Chapter 4

7 stitches and a new bandage later, Toni and Clint were back in her car driving –about 20 above the speed limit- back to the house. They rode in friendly silence and listened to the radio quietly. The sun was just beginning to set, staining the sky in a multitude of breathtaking colour. Toni watched the blue fade from the sky quietly and propped her head against the window.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Clint said quietly gaze fixed on the road.

"I just don't think this is going to work. Nothing can be fixed as easy as stitching it up," she grinned at him, "pun intended of course."

Clint laughed in a short burst and looked over at her as he parked the Aventador in the garage carefully. "At least you two will be in the same room talking. That's more than you've done in a month," Clint helped her out of the car carefully, "we can all move on from there." He smiled at her comfortingly before disappearing off to the room he shared with Natasha.

Toni nodded slightly and walked toward the living room. Her muscles tensed in preparation, for what would probably turn out to be a long yelling match with Steve. She peeked her head in the doorway to the living room and looked at Steve. His back was facing her, his strong shoulders were slumped down, and his face was resting in his hand wearily. Toni bit her lip softly, even if she was mad at him, she had a hard time seeing the normally proud man look so defeated.

"Heya Steve," the words left Toni's mouth in a rush as she walked into the living room

Steve was up in a second, he stared at her for a moment before his shapely lips broke out into a huge smile. He walked towards her quickly, and Toni was sure that he was going to wrap his arms around her tightly, and everything would be okay between them.

"Toni I'm," he began quickly, but was then shoved away by a flying ball of business suit and red hair.

"Toniiiiiii!" Pepper screamed and hugged her tightly. Pepper's face was buried in Toni's shoulder, and Toni was doing her best not to inhale a mouthful of vibrant red hair. She looked at Steve quickly, but he was farther away now, and his face was back in its stoic mask.

"What's doin Pepper?"

"Oh Toni I thought you were going to die! They said there was blood in your Aventador! That car's your baby! I knew you would never let blood get in it unless it was serious!" Pepper went on and on about how worried she was while Toni half listened. She loved Pepper and all, but if only she had come in a minute later!

"I'm fine Pepper. Where's Rhodey?"

"Right here," Rhodey strode into the room in his dress blues. He smiled at Toni easily, but his eyes held worry for her. Toni knew he was afraid that one day she'd do something too stupid and they'd lose her forever.

Steve looked at Rhodey coolly, "Lieutenant Corneal"

Rhodey stopped and assessed him quietly, "Captain." He answered back politely. Pepper took that moment to collect herself and smile at Steve professionally, "Oh hi Steve."

Rhodey strode over to her quickly and hugged Toni. He held her tightly and looked down at her searchingly, "You sure you're alright? You seem to be ending up in the hospital more and more, and now a spilt wrist…"

Toni saw Steve tense a bit out of the corner of her eye and stare at Rhodey with what could have been mistaken for jealousy, "I'm fine Rhodey, don't get your flight suit in a twist."

Rhodey laughed a bit, "When are you going to learn to take care of yourself?"

"When you gonna learn to have fun?"

"Splitting open your wrist is fun?"

"Tactical accident. I got too close to an arrow."

The two bickered playfully for a few moments and were so busy in their play, that they didn't notice Steve take Pepper outside the room quickly.

Toni sat down on the couch and rested her head against the back of it, her wav y hair fell into her face but she was too exhausted to move it. She felt the couch dip beside her, and the familiar smell of axe rushed over her, as Rhodey sat down with her. They stayed silent for a moment, just enjoying each other's company in a way that comes from a close friendship. Toni looked at Rhodey softly and sighed internally. If she didn't feel whatever it was she felt for Steve, then she could very see herself with Rhodey, even letting him make an honest woman out of her.

"So what happened between you and Rogers?"

Toni closed her eyes and sighed softly, "Thought I was gonna join up with Loki. They all came in at the wrong time."

Rhodey looked at her seriously and pondered over her comment for a moment, "where you going to?"

"I thought about it. I honestly did," Toni could feel shame creep up inside her. It wasn't an emotion she felt often, and she liked to keep it that way, "but then I thought about Steve, and you guys and I couldn't see myself doing it. The offer was a nice presentation, and tempting as hell. When someone tells you they'll appreciate you endlessly," She looked at Rhodey weakly.

He clasped her hand in his own softly and nodded his acceptance quietly. That one simple motion told her that he understood, and that Rhodey was still, and would always be her friend. Toni's eyes started burning and she resisted the urge to cry. Rhodey –taking note of every movement she made- pulled her into his arms and held her softly.

Toni clung to him and cried, gasping and sobbing into his shoulder like he was her last lifeline. Tears she wouldn't let herself cry were shielded from the world by Rhodey's shoulder. He rocked her softly and murmured to her gently about everything and nothing, just trying to sooth her pain.

Toni clung to him until the sobbing died down, and she could get a grip on her emotions. She wiped her eyes slightly and took in a breath. Trying to fortify herself for however long she would need to hold things in again.

Rhodey watched quietly waiting for her to compose herself. When she smiled at him –a real smile not the cocky thing she usually plastered on- he continued his questioning, "So what the hell happened to your wrist?"

"You sure you want to know Rhodes? Cuz it's dumb."

"Since when have your injuries been anything but?"

"I resent that. Anyway," Toni settled back against the couch, "alright so Thor and Clint came up with the bright idea."

Rhodey settled back and crossed his arms comfortably, "Oh this I have to hear."

Toni grinned, "They noticed that Steve and I have been at odds, so they decide that the only way to get us to make-up is to get me hurt. So Clint comes in my room wakes me up at the butt crack of dawn, and slices into my wrist with his arrow. Then proceeds to drive me to the hospital, tell Steve I'm hurt and bleeding, then hang up on his ass." Toni continued on with the story dramatically, by the time she was done with her narration Rhodey's eye brows were making an escape into his hairline. He looked at her quietly for a moment.

"You actually let them do that to you?"

Toni shrugged, "not like I had much of a choice.

Rhodey shook his head, and stood up carefully, "you're all crazy. I have to get Pepper home; she said she has a date with Happy."

Toni smiled, "married people still date?"

Rhodey shook his head in exasperation and kissed her cheek softly, "you have any more problems call me okay Toni? I may not be muscle man, but I out rank Steve, I have a feeling he'll listen to a little….persuasion."  
Toni shook her head, "not a chance. I got this."

Rhodey smiled and walked to the door. He paused before he left, and turned his head to looked at her, "you always say that Toni. But sometimes I wonder, do you really 'got this?'" Rhodey looked at her kindly and walked out leaving Toni to ponder about what he meant.


	5. Chapter 5

Silence surrounded Toni in a thick blanket as she worked diligently. She went through design after design, and built a 3D model of the plane the avengers used. She separated all the layers and looked at them before her. She methodically too note of each part, and piece, and then started to strip some of them out. She deleted outdated radars, and flight systems. Useless electrical and ugly seats. She worked quietly at her task, taking mental notes; until she was left with just the shell of the plane and a tiny group of parts she wasn't planning to change.

She stared at it for a moment then nodded to herself, "Jarvis."

"Yes Miss Stark?"

"Make a new project file for the plane, and then put all this in it. Delete whatever's not in use. I don't even want it showing up on the new plane."

"Yes Miss Stark."

Toni sat down at one of the tables and began making blue prints for the plane. She drew everything out with almost religious attention to detail. The clock ticked slowly somewhere behind her, and the pencil scraped against the paper loudly. She was so engrossed in her work that she didn't hear the ding and swish of the door being opened, and the little electrical voice announce Pepper Potts.

Toni was startled out of her work by a pair of muscular arms that came to rest on either side of her blueprints. She jumped lightly and bumped back into a warm muscular chest. The intoxicating scent of old spice and propaganda wafted around her making her close her eyes in slight pleasure.

"Why are you up so late Toni?" she could feel Steve's chest rumble against her back with every word he spoke. She stayed silent though, slightly surprised at how close he was. Usually Steve was big on his personal space.

"Toni?" his voice was right next to her ear, deep and slightly gravelly like he had just woken up. Concern was laced through his voice and she could tell he was waiting patiently for an answer.

"Working on the plane," he was still right behind her arms caging her, "how'd you get in here? I change it so you all can't come in without me letting you." She was honestly curious. Steve wasn't stupid by any means, but there was no way in hell that he had the knowledge of modern technology and computers to hack her system. No one did.

He took his arms off the table, and Toni panicked thinking she had upset him, but he simply spun her chair so she was facing him. He had obviously woken up right before he got to her workroom. His normally neat blond hair was messy and falling in his face slightly, it stuck up in little cowlicks here and there. He was dressed in loose blue sweat pants and a white t-shirt. Toni gazed at him subtly, her eyes taking in every little detail.

Steve smiled at her a bit sleepily and pulled a chair over to sit with her, "It's three in the morning Toni, shouldn't you be asleep?"  
Toni shrugged, "I'm usually up till forever, nothing new."

He frowned thoughtfully, "how long have you been down here? You didn't come up at dinner." He took note of her guilty face and looked at her sharply, "Toni, when's the last time you ate?"

She pointed to a small mounted of candy bar wrappers near her worktable in answer, and smiled sheepishly, "Stark work diet. Work. Work. Binge. Work."

He shook his head, his blue eyes light with worry, "you really can't keep doing this to yourself Toni. It's not healthy."

"You haven't seemed to care much lately." She stated flatly.

Steve blushed slightly and had the decency to look ashamed, which didn't help Toni at all. It made her feel worse.

"I'm sorry Toni."

She could feel her eyes widen in shock. Did Steve Rogers, Captain fucking America just apologize to her? She arched her brow curiously.

"I treated you terribly Toni," he looked at her guiltily doing a wonderful impression of a wounded puppy, "you were hurt and I yelled at you. Then I was too stubborn to admit I had been wrong." He shrugged helplessly, "I knew you'd never turn on us," Steve took her hand softly and traced the lines in it tenderly; "by the time I accepted that you had already started to avoid me."

Toni watched serenely as he laced his fingers thru hers softly and continued speaking, "then you got hurt, and I had no idea," he gazed at her his blue eyes showing all the worry and anxiety he had felt, "if you had done something permanent because of me. All Clint said was that there was blood, and I assumed you had tried to kill yourself."

Steve squeezed her hand lightly, "I knew it would have been my fault, and I couldn't stand the idea of you being gone. I waited for you to get back," he pushed her bangs away from her eyes softly and smiled tenderly, "and you walked in and smiled at me, like I was forgiven and nothing bad had happened."

They sat in silence for a few moments Toni said nothing as Steve continued rubbing her hand softly and holding it in his larger ones. She could feel the heat from his hand seep into hers; his pulse was pressed against the side of her palm. Toni felt it race against her hand and knew he was nervous.

"Steve. I wasn't mad at….okay that's a lie I was pissed as hell," Steve's face fell and his hands loosened against hers. Toni held his hand and continued quickly, "but then I was just upset." She mentally cursed herself when she felt warm tears well up in her eyes, "I thought you would never forgive me."

He pulled her against him and hugged her close, surrounding her with warmth and his scent. "I'll always forgive you Toni." He held her close to him. "I care about you Toni. More than just a friend should."

Toni looked up surprised to see his normally composed face shy and bright red, "If you'd permit me, I'd like to court you. We could go dancing."

Toni felt a smile break across her face joyfully. "Steve, I can't dance."

His eyes lit up and sparkled with mischief, "Neither can I. We'll just have to learn together won't we Toni." He smiled at her and rested his forehead against hers lightly. "Natasha…"

Her face lit up when she heard him say her name. Toni hated that name, it was so girly and old, but when Steve said it she couldn't help but love the way it sounded falling out of his mouth. "Natasha, I would like to kiss you. May I?"

Toni smiled softly, always the gentleman actually asking if he could kiss her. Toni had kissed a lot of people, and not one of them had ever asked if they could. She rested her hand against his cheek softly; stubble poked her hand slightly, "yes."

Steve leaned closer to her and pressed his lips against hers in a chaste kiss. They were warm and soft against hers; her lips tingled like an open circuit and warmth spread across her body to the very tips of her fingers. It was the quickest kiss she had ever had, but it made her feel more than any night in some man's bed ever had.

Steve smiled at her, an adorable blush staining his cheeks. He picked her up carefully and cradled her against him softly, "I'll take you to bed."

Toni rested her head against his shoulder contently, and let him walk her from the room. They walked through the hallways quietly, her arc reactor casting a blue glow over both of them. Steve set her down on her bed, and kissed her softly goodnight, before leaving to his room. As Toni closed her eyes to sleep, a runaway thought crossed her mind. She was glad she wasn't changing sides.


End file.
